A STUDY 

OF THE 

LITERATURE OF 
WEST VIRGINIA 

1822-1922 




By 

MARY MEEK ATKESON, Ph.D. 



A STUDY 



OF THE 



LITERATURE OF 
WEST VIRGINIA 



1822-1922 




By 

MARY MEEK ATKESON, Ph.D. 



C 1^l'2-3 






-tp 



AUTHOR'S FOREWORD 



To the loyal citizen of West Virginia the literature which has been 
produced within the boundaries of his state has an inspiring in- 
terest. He naturally feels that those writers who have lived 
among his native hills and mountains must very often have expressed 
in their prose and verse the same thoughts that have occurred to him 
in this environment, and that their mode of expression must be very 
like his own. And in this feeling he is quite justified. There is indeed 
a distinctive flavor in all the hill-dwellei's ' writings which is as unmis- 
takable as it is difficult to define. Perhaps it can never be defined com- 
pletely, but at least the present brief study undertakes to show in some 
measure how the literature produced by residents of the state differs 
from that by residents of the surrounding commonwealths, with a few 
suggestions as to the possible causes of its distinguishing characteristics. 
The monograph here presented is the outcome of several years' study 
of local literature. In 1913 when the author was a graduate student 
at West Virginia University she prepared a very complete study of 
* ' Writers of West Virginia, ' ' including not only a historical and literary 
monograph but also a biography of almost every state writer. Because 
of the bulk of this work it did not reach publication but it has been 
available to students in the University Library and in the Department 
of History at Charleston, W. Va. Her interest in the local literature 
once aroused, the author has since collected every available book and 
pamphlet by writers of all the region round about, and in 1919 she 
prepared the monograph "A Study of the Local Literature of the 
Upper Ohio Valley, with especial reference to the early Pioneer and 
Indian Tales, 1820-1840," which was published by Ohio State Univer- 
sity in 1921. The present study deals more briefly with a part of the 
same material, with many additions of later books and old books which 
have lately been discovered. 

If it were possible the author would gladly name all those who have 
helped her in her work on these local writings, but their number is far 
too great. For the original study more than two hundred correspondents 
throughout the state rendered invaluable assistance, owners of private 
libraries gave up their most precious volumes for reading, state his- 
torians furnished books and notes which they had collected in their 
work on local history, many of the writers furnished their own books 
and infoi'mation concerning other writers, and editors of county news- 
papers often helped by advertising for copies of old books or for in- 
formation about some local writer. Without such assistance it would 
have been quite impossible to make a complete collection of these elusive 
local writings. So that if the author's work is valuable at all, it is so 
chiefly because of the co-operation she has received from many loyal 
citizens of West Virginia, and to them she dedicates this present study. 

Maey Meek Atkeson, 
1831 Lamont Street, N. AV., Washington, D. C. 



A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE 
OF WEST VIRGINIA 



WEST VIRGINIA LITERATURE AND LITERARY WRITERS i 

The state of West Virginia has not been generally recognized as 
a center of literature of a distinctive quality — as have Virginia, Indiana, 
and some other states in the Union — largely because so few writers of 
popular novels have lived within its borders. To the general reading 
public West Virginia is still almost an unknown land, classed roughly 
with eastern Virginia, with the Kentucky and Tennessee mountain re- 
gions, or with the coal mining regions of western Pennsylvania. Only 
those who have followed the development of letters in the state realize 
that it has produced a considerable body of literature which is both 
creditable and distinctive. 

The people of the state differ from those of the commonwealths 
around them, both in the admixture of races and in the environment 
under which they have developed. The first settlers were chiefly 
eastern Virginians of English descent, Welsh, Irish, Scotch-Irish and 
French, with a fcAV Germans from Pennsylvania along the northern 
border, and a few descendants of the Pilgrims along the Ohio. As the 
rich plains of the great West opened up, the nai-row valleys of the hill 
country held few charms for the later emigrants and they passed them 
by to settle farther westward. Thus, most of the natives of the state 
can trace their ancestry back to that early and very hardy stock which 
crossed the ocean before the Revolution. 

In environment the citizens of the state have been peculiarly for- 
tunate. The tAvo natural gaps through the mountains — one to the 
north and the other to the south — provided two great thoroughfares for 
travel to the West, and the people who lived near were touched by the 
full current of the western movement of immigration. Later these 
natural entrances gave passageway to the two great railway systems 
which serve the state — the Baltimore and Ohio on the north and the 
Chesapeake and Ohio on the. south. The varying topography of the 
state tends to bring into contact many diiferent kinds of people. The 
wildest mountain lands frequently ajoin fertile glades on which agri- 
culture flourishes, in the limestone sections the rich bluegrass pastures 
lead the cattlemen and horsemen into the very heart of the hills, and 
the orchardist sets his thousands of trees along all .the slopes and ridges. 
Other wild lands are pierced by the fertile valleys of the numerous 
streams, and a love of beauty and picturesque surroundings as well as 
the well-knoAvn medicinal power of the mountain springs lead many 
citizens to carry all the comfort and culture of the cities into fastnesses 
that would otherwise be given up to the lumberman and the moonshiner. 
New fields opening up for coal or oil or gas production bring many 



1 This account of West Virginia literature includes only the writers of fiction, 
essays, popular historical tales, plays and verse. 



6 A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

new people among the hills — not all desirable citizens, it is true — and 
encourage the building of short-line railroads which serve the local 
people as well as transport the coal from the mines. 

Thus the mountain people of "West Virginia have never become so 
isolated as have those of Kentucky and Tennessee and the chance visitor 
is often surprised to find real culture among those he had formerly 
thought of as "ignorant mountaineers." Books and papers are held 
in high esteem and everywhere among the mountains and hills there 
are writers of local reputation trying to set down life as they know it 
in West Virginia. 

Early Writers, 1820-1861 
Prose 

After the very early journals of travelers, which were written, 
naturally, by non-residents, the first literature to, be produced west of 
the mountains was the local history of Indian warfare. The Great 
Wilderness just beyond the Alleghanies was the western emigrant's first 
experience with the real wilds. Along the fertile valleys the early 
settlers built their cabins long before the military outposts were suffi- 
ciently strong to give them protection, and there marauding bands of 
Indians fell upon them, burned the cabins, carried off women and chil- 
dren into captivity, and massacred whole families, times without num- 
ber. Probably in no other section of the country was the Indian warfare 
so brutal or so bloody as in this small territory between the mountains 
and the Ohio river. 

The settlers were the vanguard of the western movement and the 
Indian tribes were quick to resent their penetration into the wilds 
beyond the mountains which had so long proved an effective barrier 
against the white men. Although there were few permanent Indian 
settlements within the state, many tribes used it as a favorite hunting 
ground and especially secured their winter's supply of bear-meat — 
much prized because of its juicy fatness — among the mountains. Thiis 
it was impossible for the white settlers to secure peace by treaties be-, 
cause the territory was not held by any one tribe. The attacking parties 
were usually small bands of hunters passing through the valleys and 
the settlers never knew at what moment they might be set upon for 
plunder and murder. For this reason the Indian warfare stories of 
this region are particularly poignant because the attacks were usually 
against helpless women and children. 

No doubt the stories of these local raids were the chief theme of 
conversation around the firesides in those early years. They were told 
and retold to the eager, though horrified, listeners, and many a back- 
woods I'aconteur could tell them by hundreds. So great was the local 
interests in these tales that as the years went by the people began to 
realize that they would have a literary value if they were set down in 
books. Collections of the tales were made and published and were 
widely popular. Indeed it is a remarkable fact that the most autlientic 
and complete collections of such tales in all the border were made 
within the territory which is now West Virginia. To these early collec- 
tions the historians still turn for information concerning the westward 
movement and the manners and customs of the backwoods people. 

The first and best of these books was "Notes on the Settlement and 
Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania," 
published in 1824 by Dr. Joseph Doddridge, an Episcopal minister and 
physician, who gathered his material from the local people. Theodore 



A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 7 

Roosevelt said of this collection, "It is the most valuable book we have 
on old-time frontier ways and customs." Another comprehensive col- 
lection, "Chronicles of Border Warfare," was published by Alexander 
Scott Withers in 1831. Later and less important volumes were Foote's 
"Sketches of Virginia" and the "History of Early Settlements and 
Indian Wars of Western Virginia, ' ' by Wills De Hass. 

Naturally enough, since these folk-tales had secured such a firm hold 
upon the imagination of the western Virginians, their first att-empts at 
fiction and the drama used the same materials. Volumes began to be 
written 

"Of Boone and Kenton and the pioneers. 

Of Pontiae and Ellinipsico, 

Of Logan, the heart-broken chief, of bold 

Tecumseh and the Prophet." 

Dr. Joseph Doddridge sought to immortalize a heroic Indian char- 
acter in "Logan, the Last of the Race of Shikellemus, Chief of the 
Cayuga Nation" (1823), a drama in which Captain Furioso, Captain 
Pacificus, and other classic figures rubbed shoulders with wild Indians. 
In the preface he expresses a fear that the dialogue may seem "rough 
and uncouth — perhaps even objectionable" — a fear not well founded, 
however, as in fact both Indians and backwoodsmen speak excellent 
English! The play is of special interest because in the dialogue various 
types of backwoodsmen are set forth with their varying views of the 
Indian question as they knew it. Thus the reader learns much of the 
temper of the times. Needless to say the climax of the drama is Logan's 
famous speech which was popular with all the pioneers. 

A typical novel of the time is ' ' New Hope, or the Rescue : A Tale 
of the Great Kanawha" (1845?) — sometimes known as "Young Kate, 
or The Rescue," and "The Aliens." This tale is little more than a 
running together of the folk tales and anecdotes current among the 
Great Kanawha settlers. It is full of picturesquely contrasting char- 
acters of the backwoods, of the dangers by Indians, floods and rattle- 
snakes, interspersed with humorous anecdotes and folk stories. 

Another early writer, who did not, however, use local material, was 
Anne (Newport) Royall, who lived near Sweet Springs, Monroe countv, 
for about thirty years— 1785 M815 ? Her first book, "The Ten- 
nessean," was published in 1827. Later she went to Washington, D. C, 
where she established the ' ' Washington Paul Pry ' ' and ' ' The Huntress ' ' 
and was said to be the first Avoman journalist in the United States. For 
many years she was a well-lmown figure about the national Capitol and 
wrote innumerable pen portraits of prominent men, and sketches of 
the life and manners of her time. 

Just before the Civil AVar, David Hunter Strother of Martinsburg, 
following the suggestion of the early travel literature of the state, wrote 
a delightful series of travels illustrated by pen sketches of unusual 
merit. These appeared first in Harper's Magazine and were later pub- 
lished in book form under the titles, "The Blackwater Chronicle" 
(1853) and "Virginia Illustrated" (1871). Like nearly all the other 
writing of this region these stories are full of unusual characters, quaint 
bits of humor, folk-lore tales, and elaborate descriptions of the scenery 
along the way. The hardships which the gay travelers encountered may 
be judged by the following "bill of necessities" which was prepared by 
a member of the party. "I would recommend to you to procure the fol- 
lowing equipments : a water-proof knapsack, fishing tackle and a gun ; a 
belt with pistols — a revolver would be preferable in case of a conflict with 
a panther ; a hunting knife for general purpose — a good ten-inch blade, 



8 A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

sharp and reliable ; it will be useful for cleaning fish, dressing game, and 
may serve you a good turn when a bear gets you down in a laurel-brake. 
Store your knapsack with an extra pair of shoes, a change of raiment, 
such as will resist water and dirt to the last extremity, a pair of leggins 
to guard against rattlesnakes, and the following eatables : one dozen 
biscuits, one pound of ham, etc." 

Verse 

The early immigrants coming over the mountains brought with them 
many folk-songs which had long before been brought across the ocean 
by their forbears. Everyone sang about the big hearth-fire in the winter 
nights and nearly every settlement had at least one expert singer of 
ballads. Probably the singers often composed new songs on local events, 
Indian outrages and border battles, but only one of these, so far as 
the writer knows, has been preserved. The local ballad, "The Battle 
of Point Pleasant," was well-known for many years after the battle, 
and no doubt is still sung occasionally at mountain firesides. It begins : 

Let us mind the tenth day of October, 
Seventy-four, which caused woe; 
The Indian savages they did cover 
The pleasant banks of the Ohio. 

The battle beginning in the morning — 
Throughout the day it lasted sore. 
Till the shades of evening were a-falling 
Upon the banks of the Ohio shore. 

Even the very early settlers were much impressed with the beauty 
of the land in which they lived and often "dropped into verse" in an 
attempt to describe their mountains and rivers adequately. Margaret 
Agnew Blennerhassett, wife of Harman Blennerhassett of "the un- 
happy isle," wrote many verses about her home in western Virginia, 
which were published long afterwards in Montreal as "The Widow of 
the Rock and Other Poems" (1823). Dr. Joseph Doddridge used back- 
woods material again in classic form when he wrote an "Elegy on His 
Family Vault," imitating Gray's "Elegy." He thus describes his 
pioneer father : 

In hunting frock, and Indian sandals trim, 

O 'er lengthening wastes, with nimble steps he ran 

Nor was Apollo's dart more sure in aim; 

Than in his skillful hand, the deadly gun. 

Think not ye lettered men with all your claims, 
Ye rich in all the spoils of fields, and floods, 
That solid sense, and virtue's fairest gems. 
Dwell not with huntsmen, in their native woods. 

Thomas J. Lees, a resident of Wheeling, published in 1831 "Musings 
of Carol," a group of philosophical poems, many of them celebrating 
the beauties of the Ohio river and of the country near Wheeling. 
"Musings on the Ohio" is his best known poem. 

Ohio — brightest of Columbia's streams; 
Thy crystal waters, in their silent course, 
Glide ever beauteous through these valleys green; 
Thy winding shores are decked with verdant meads 
And proud majestic hills, that lift their heads 
With waving forest crowned, and massy rocks 



A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

Exalt their awful elifts amid the storms 

Of heaven. We ask no flatt'ring fancy here — 

No fairy dreams — nor the enchanter's wand, 

To fling new lustre on the gaudy scene; 

For beauteous nature walks abroad, array 'd 

In gayest grandeur and sublimity! 



Time was, when sovereign nature held her reign 

In wild luxuriance and lonely pride; 

While these bright waters rolled on silently, 

And swept their tribute to the mighty deep ; 

When art broke not upon the solitude, 

And commerce knew not, heard not of these vast, 

These rude and lonely wilds!- — Then freely roamed 

The surly bear, the nimble footed deer. 

The antlered elk, the lordly buffaloe, 

The lofty eagle — freedom's favorite bird. 

Sat on his native rock; and from the bough 

Of hoary sycamore, the red-bird poured 

His softest, sweetest note, — 

Then changed the scene! 
Along the stream the swarthy Indian sped 
His fragile bark canoe, or trunk of tree. 
Carved out by artist rude, that lightly skimmed 
The liquid way, the fairy of the flood; 
With cheerful heart he spread the snare — and oft 
He drew the finny race for his repast; 
His noble soul was light and free as air; 
He thirsted not for wealth — nor did he know 
The curse of poverty — but on his brow, 
Stern independence sat. 

Another change — 
The sordid sons of Europe came — they brought 
Their gew-gaws, wares and merchandise — a thirst 
For wealth— new laws — new customs — and new crimes! 
They brought their liquid poison, and they bade 
The Indian drink; he took the cup, he drank. 
It fired his brain — while mutual jealousy 
Eoused up the stormy passions of the soul; 
And many a bosom burned with deadly wrath. 
Loud pealed the warnote through the dreary wilds — 
They flew to battle; and the crimson flowed — 
The fires of death lit up the forest gloom, 
While horrid screams rung on the midnight gale. 
Which chilled the white men's blood. 

Another change. 
The Indian's hopes are withered, and he turned 
Away — he cursed the day the white man set 
His foot upon the shore. With heartfelt grief, 
He left his native land, and of the hills. 
His grots, his woods and waterfalls he took 
A long, a last farewell. Now gentle peace 
Waves her mild scepter o'er these happy realms. 

Philip Pendleton Cooke, of Martinsburg, , published in ' ' Froissart 
Ballads" (1847) a number of graceful descriptive poems celebrating 
local scenery. He also wrote a long narrative poem on "The Murder 
of Cornstalk," using the stories of the early settlers as his material. 
It is, however, chiefly by the charming lyric poem, "Florence Vane," 
that this poet is remembered. Another resident, Thomas Dvmn English, 
wrote much verse celebrating Logan county and retelling pioneer stories. 
During the five years which he lived in the state he wrote, or collected 
the material for : ' ' Rafting on the Guyandotte, " " Gauley River, " " The 



10 A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

Logan Grazier," "Guyandotte Musings," "Boone "Wagoner," "The 
Fight of John Lewis," "Betty Zane," "The Charge by the Ford" and 
others later published in his "American Ballads" (1882) and "Boy's 
Book of Battle Lyrics" (1885). The following stanzas show his easy 
and careless ballad style: 

Gauley Eivee 

The waters of Gauley, 
Wild waters and brown, 
Through the hill-bounded valley, 
Sweep onward and down; 
Over rocks, over shallows, 
Through shaded ravines, 
Where the beautiful hallows 
Wild, varying scenes; 
Where the tulip tree scatters 
Its blossoms in Spring, 
And the bank-swallow spatters 
With foam its sweet wing; 
Where the dun deer is stooping 
To drink from the spray, 
And the fish-eagle swooping 
Bears down on his prey — 
Brown waters of Gauley, 
That sweep past the shore — 
Dark waters of Gauley 
That move evermore. 



Brown waters of Gauley, 

My fingers I lave 

In the foam that lies scattered 

Upon your brown wave. 

From sunlight to shadow, 

To shadow more dark, 

'Neath the low-bending birches 

I guide my rude barque; 

Through the shallows whose brawling 

Falls full on my ear. 

Through the sharp mossy masses, 

My vessel I steer. 

Wliat care I for honors. 

The world might bestow, 

What care I for gold. 

With its glare and its glow? 

The world and its troubles 

I leave on the shore 

Of the waters of Gauley 

That move evermore. 

The Civil "War and Reconstruction, 1861-1885 

Prose 

Just why there should have been so great a virtue in the crossing 
of a range of mountains the historians have never decided conclusively, 
but the fact remains that the former residents of the tidewater colonies 
who had emigrated to the great '\^^est soon felt a new spirit stirring 
within them. It was a strange consequence that people who had will- 
ingly submitted to all the old English customs and traditions in eastern 
"Virginia should have had so little regard for such things in the wilds 
of Augusta county. They felt they had entered upon a new life, with 
new responsibilities, new dangers, new duties, and new privileges — for 
which a new code of laws was necessary. 



A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 11 

The center of government was far away in Richmond and except 
for some general laws concerning land grants, its legislation was not 
much enforced west of the mountains. Little of the soil of the state 
was suited to the kind of cultivation used in the East — slaves in most 
parts of the territory were not economically profitable — so that the 
whole life Avas upon a different basis. Practically all the early writers 
recognized this new spirit and made mention of it in their writings, 
several of them foretelling the separation of the state long before the 
Civil war excitement brought about that result. 

When war was finally declared the state was widely divided upon 
the qviestion of secession. The northern and western counties were 
strong for the Union, while the southern and eastern counties were as 
strongly for secession. Again West Virginia was a border land — be- 
tAveen Ohio, solidly Unionist, and Virginia, solidly for secession, and 
was herself torn between the opposing forces. Indeed the real Mason 
and Dixon's line of the war ran diagonally across the state. 

The real bitterness of the war seemed to be an outgrowth of the 
old sectional quarrels between the North and the South as represented 
in the state's popiilation. It was not so much the freeing of the slaves 
the western Virginians resented as the fact that the Yankees were doing 
it — and the old feeling ran very high. Needless to say so great a force 
in the lives of the people had a great influence upon their writing. The 
change is well illustrated in the life of David Hunter Strother. When 
war Avas declared he Avas no longer the artistic dilettante — but a man 
of action, at the head of a daring Union regiment. With but few ex- 
ceptions the Avriters of this period Avere in the heat of the conflict, so 
each gives a one-sided view, yet taken altogether they present a true 
and vivid picture of the time. 

The first story of the Avar Avas AA^ritten by Rebecca Harding (Blaine) 
Davis, a young resident of Wheeling. Although but a young girl she 
had already attracted attention by her story, "Life in the Iron Mills," 
published in the Atlantic. Monthly in 1861. "David Gaunt," her story 
of the war, published first in the Atlantic Monthly in September and 
October, 1862, and later in book form, is one of the sanest Avar stories 
of all the borderland. It abounds in descriptions of local scenery and 
in character studies of the people. She says : "I write from the border 
of the battle-field, and I find in it no theme for shallow argument or 
flimsy rhymes. The shadow of death has fallen on us ; it chills the very 
heaven. No child laughs in my face as I pass down the sti-eet. Men 
have forgotten to hope, forgotten to pray; only in the bitterness of 
endurance they say in the morning, 'Would God it were evening!' and in 
the evening, 'Would God it were morning!' " 

She describes the West Virginian small farmer Avho ' ' sowed the fields 
and truck patch," — and "sold the crops down in Wheeling." "You 
could see that it need not take Prospero's Ariel forty minutes to put a 
girdle round this man's world; ten Avould do it, tie up the farm and 
the dead and live Scofields and the Democratic party, with an ideal 
reverence for 'Firginj^a' under all. As for the OtherAvhere, outside of 
Virginia, he heeded it as much as a Hindoo does the turtle on which the 
earth rests * * * Yankeedom was a mean-soiled country, whence 
came clocks, teachers, peddlers, and infidelity." She probably gives a 
true picture of the division of sentiment over war issues among the 
small farmers near Wheeling when she makes one of her characters say 
they are, " 'Bout half on 'em Secesh, — it depends on Avho burned the 
barns fust." 



12 A STUDY OP THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

"Margaret Howth" (1861), is a realistic picture of life in Wheeling 
just prior to the war, contrasting the sordid life of the mills with the 
beauty of the surrounding landscape. The following description of a 
West Virginia dawn seems worth quoting: "The bars of sunlight fell 
on the brown earth from the steep hills like pointed swords ; the foggy 
swamp of wet vapour trembled and broke, so touched, rose at last, 
leaving patches of damp brilliance on the fields, and floated majestically 
up in radiant victor clouds, led by the conquering wind. Victory ! It 
Avas in the cold, pure ether filling the heavens, in the solemn gladness 
of the hills." 

The first war-time chronicle was "Nine Months in the Quarter- 
master's Department: or The Chances for Making a Million" (1862), 
by Charles Leib, a Union soldier. He wrote in the heat of resentment 
over the loss of his position, and was chiefly concerned with his accusers, 
yet he felt himself in the midst of great affairs. He often tells in 
dialogue the troubles of the Quartermaster, and other first-hand stories 
of the war. 

Two other autobiographical narratives of the war were published 
some years later; one by a Union soldier and one by a Confederate — 
"The Flying Gray-Haired Tank" (1888), by Michael Egan of Parkers- 
burg, and "Four Years a Soldier" (1887), by David E. Johnston of 
Monroe county. Both are readable chronicles of the soldier's life and 
of the suffering undergone in prison camps, one in the North, the other 
in the South. "The Gray-Haired Yank" especially has many hair's- 
breadth escapes from capture — ^but his ready wit and tongue often save 
him from embarrassing circumstances, and he never fails to appreciate 
the humor even of a dangerous situation. 

Mary Tucker Magill, a native of Jefferson county, wrote "Women: 
or Chronicles of the Late War," and several other war stories, but she 
had long been resident in Virginia, so belongs rather to that state than 
to West Virginia. Sarah J. Jones, of Buffalo, began writing Sunday ^ 
school stories in the years following the war. Some of her books are : 
"Rest or Unrest," "A Story of the Parisian Sabbath in America" 
(1888), "Words and Ways" (1885), "None Other Name" (1893). 
They have been very popular in Sunday school libi'aries. 

Verse 

The emotional excitement of the war often found an outlet in verse 
and every corner of the county papers, not required for the publication 
of war news, was filled with war poems. Every incident of the war 
in West Virginia was told by somebody in some kind of verse, and 
every skirmish was thought worthy to be sung "by the poets of the 
nation for unending ages to come." 

Daniel Bedinger Lucas, of Charles Town, was one of the most im- 
portant of the many war poets of the South. Although living within 
the present state of West Virginia his heart was with the Old Com- 
monwealtii in her struggle, and his verse all goes back to the "old 
regime." His verse has about it that glamour which always hangs 
over those who have fought bravely and lost in a cause they loved. His 
poems have been published in book form in the following volumes: 
"The Land Where We Were Dreaming" (1865), "The Wreath of 
Eglantine, and Other Poems" (1869), — containing several poems writ- 
ten by his sister, Virginia Bedinger Lucas, — "Ballads and Madrigals" 
(1884), "The Maid of Northumberland, a Dramatic Poem" (1879), 
"The Land Where We Were Dreaming, and Other Poems" (1913), a 



A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 13 

complete collection of his shorter verse, and "Dramatic Works" (1913), 
a collection of his poetic dramas. 

It is chiefly by the war poem, of which two stanzas are quoted, that 
Daniel Bedinger Lucas is known to the general public. Probably it 
expresses, better than any other poem has expressed, the beauty and 
heroism and tragedy of the Southern cause. 

The Land Where We Were Dreaming 

Pair were our nation's visions, and as grand 

As ever floated out of fancy-land; 

Children were we in simple faith, 

But god-like children, whom nor death, 

Nor threat of danger drove from honor 's path — 

In the land where we were dreaming! 

Proud were our men as pride of birth could render. 

As violets our women pure and tender; 

And when they spoke, their voices' thrill, 

At evening hushed the whip-poor-will. 

At morn the mocking-bird was mute and still. 

In the land where we were dreaming! 

And we had gi'aves that covered more of glory. 

Than ever taxed the lips of ancient story; 

And in our dream we wove the thread 

Of principles for which had bled. 

And suffered long our own immortal dead, 

In the land where we were dreaming! 

"The Maid of Northumberland" (1879), also by Daniel Bedinger 
Lucas, is a dramatic poem of the war — probably the first use of such 
material in the drama. Among the characters are General Henry A. 
Wise of Virginia and the typical loyal negro servant. Much of the 
humor arises from the absurd forms of court-martial in vogue during 
the war. The old sectional spirit is shown in the discussion of Con- 
science : 

Ralph. "Where did he come from? 

From New England?" 
Eandal. "Born there they claim, if so, 

He emigrated early and for good. ' ' 

And again before a battle: 

"The odds are such as we're accustomed to. 
For on each Southern horse there rides the equal 
Of Federal horsemen, three at least, or more ! ' ' 

The critic, C. F. T. Brooke, says of Judge Lucas's plays, "The 
lights they throw are side-lights, discovering isolated groups of men 
and women whose individual lives and characters are not obscured, but 
rather the more strikingly silhouetted against the cloud of distant 
war. ' ' 

Another Confederate poet. Col. Beuhring H. Jones, lived at Lewis- 
burg. His verse was written in the Federal prison on Johnson's Island 
and later published in a collection of soldier poems, "The Sunny Land: 
or Prison Prose and Poetry" (1868). These prison verses are writteft 
in a quiet pensive vein, recalling the loved ones at home, and pathetic 
scenes in battle and camp. 

In 1868 William Leighton, Jr., a graduate of Harvard University, 
moved to Wheeling. He had already written verse for the Boston 
papers and after coming to the state published a number of volumes of 



14 A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

excellent poetry. "The Sons of Godwin" (1877), and "At the Court 
of King Edwin" (1878), are dramas of the Shakespearean form. At 
the time of its publication, "The Sons of Godwin" was often compared 
to Tennyson's "Harold," a play similar in form and subject, which 
appeared a few weeks later. At least, according to the American press, 
the West Virginia poet's production lost little by the comparison. 
"Shakespeare's Dream" (1881) is a classic masque, written with much 
of the Elizabethan spirit. ' ' Change : The Whisper of the Sphinx ' ' 
(1879), an epic poem of nearly three thousand lines, is Mr. Leighton's 
most ambitious work and was received with great acclaim by the critics 
of that day. The only poem in which Mr. Leighton makes use of local 
material is "The Price of the Present Paid by the Past," read at the 
dedication of the Soldiers Monument at Wheeling in 1881. In this 
he speaks of the recent war, when the state's people, almost evenly 
divided upon the great issiie, fought valiantly for what they believed 
the right — when the hills reeled with the sound of cannon, and in 
Northern and Southern prisons lay brave soldiers dreaming of their 
West Virginia homes. 

Statehood and the Development of Resources, 1885-1921 

Prose 

In the early days, before the separation of the state, the people west 
of the mountains had been referred to in the Virginia legislature as the 
"peasantry of the West," but now the peasants had become rulers in 
their OAvn right. They began to see that in the people of varied an- 
cestry who had settled among the hills and mountains there was a 
picturesque variety. Local tales of the Dutchman, the Yankee trader, 
the Virginia colonel, the Scotch-Irishman, and the Englishman, had 
ahvays been popular about the firesides even from pioneer days and 
now these tales led to a new form of literature — stories of types of 
West Virginians. Moreover the schools of the new state were imme- 
diately improved and more young men and women received a higher 
education. Indeed most of the men and Avomen writing today have been 
trained in the public schools and colleges established since the formation 
of the state. While they may be no better Avriters than those trained 
in the private schools of Virginia or the colleges of New England, they 
have usually a broader view of life, Avider sympathies and fewer 
prejudices. 

"Among the Moonshiners" (1881) by George W. Atkinson, then a 
young Internal Revenue agent, but later Governor of the state, is one 
of the first books dealing with local types. It is composed of sketches 
of the mountain people, especially of the moonshiners, and gives some 
interesting glimpses of these hardy folk as they appeared in the local 
courts or fought in the mountains for their moonshine stills. 

Perhaps it Avas the inequalities of the laws of the new and rapidly 
developing commonwealth that suggested to Melville Davisson Post of 
Harrison countj^ the underlying idea of ' ' Strange Schemes of Randolph 
Mason" (1896). The dominating character is Randolph Mason, "a 
rather mysterious legal misanthrope, having no sense of moral obliga- 
tion, but learned in the law, aa'Iio by virtue of the strange tilt of his 
mind is pleased to strive with the difficulties of his clients as though 
they were problems involving no matter of right or equity or common 
justice." Story after story shows how, "The law, being of human de- 
vice, is imperfect, and in this fag end of the nineteenth century, the 



A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF AVEST VIRGINIA 15 

evil genius thrusts through and despoils the citizen, and the robbery- 
is all the more easy because the victim sleeps in a consciousness of 
perfect security." The stories deal chiefly with courtroom scenes and 
with officers of the law, yet there is much local color. The coal mines, 
the stock farms, and oil fields of the state form the background, and 
local characters are introduced as clients, witnesses and officers. The 
book became immediately popular because of its new point of view and 
the clever construction of the stories. Not long after it appeared the 
Leutgert murder case — closely resembling one of the stories in the 
book and turning upon the same technical point of law — ^brought the 
stories to the public attention in a very striking way and the young 
lawyer-author suddenly found himself famous. People were panic 
stricken when they realized how easily the protection of the law around 
life and property could be broken down by a clever villain and a great 
storm of protest rose against the stories. As the author explains, how- 
ever, in a later volume, "No change in the law can be properly or safely 
brought about except through the pressure of public sentiment." And 
it is this public sentiment which he hopes his stories will develop. 
Later Mr. Post wrote many other stories of similar purpose, published 
in "The Man of Last Resort" (1897), and "The Corrector of Destinies" 
(1909), in which, however, the lawyer's skill is used always to save the 
innocent. 

Mr. Post's first long story deals exclusively with his home people. 
"Dwellers in the Hills" (1902) is a fresh and vigorous tale of the 
cattle country of Harrison county, interwoven with local traditions. 
With the cattleman's love for his horse, the author gives as much care 
to the description of horses as of men, and even the cattle are shown 
as individuals. The picture of "El Mahdi, ' ' the horse ' ' genius, ' ' lingers 
long in the reader's memory: "He was, almost seventeen hands high, 
with deep shoulders, and flat legs trim at the pastern as a woman's 
ankle, and a coat of dark gray, giving one the idea of good blue steel. 
He was entirely, I may say he was abominably, indifferent, except when 
it came into his broad head to wipe out my swaggering arrogance or 
when he stood as now, staring at the far-off smoky wall of the hills, 
as though he hoped to find there, some day farther on, a wonderful 
message awaiting him, or some friend whom he had lost when he swam 
Lethe, or some ancient enemy. ' ' The story turns upon the form of con- 
tract common with West Virginia cattle-buyers, requiring that the herds 
be delivered on a certain day or the contract become null and void. The 
efforts of the biiyer to prevent the carrying out of this contract and 
the overcoming of all obstacles by the determined cattlemen forms the 
action of the story. 

In another book of short stories, "Uncle Abner" (1918), Mr. Post 
has taken a West Virginian as the central character and nearly all the 
scenes and characters of the group of stories are those well known in 
the state. Uncle Abner is described as "a big broad-shouldered, deep- 
chested Saxon, with all those marked characteristics of a race living out 
of doors and hardened by wind and sun. His powerful frame carried 
no ounce of surplus weight. It was the frame of the empire builder on 
the frontier of the empire. Th^ face reminded one of Cromwell, the 
craggy features in repose seemed molded over iron, but the fine gray 
eyes had a calm serenity, like remote spaces in the summer sky. The 
man 's clothes were plain and somber. And he gave one the impression 
of things big and vast." Uncle Abner believes firmly in the "ultimate 
justice behind the moving of events" and that even blind chance is 
more often on the side of the good than of the bad. Under his acute 



16 A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

observation and simple logic even the slight clues left by clever crim- 
inals tell a definite story and through this knowledge he secures justice 
for the living if not vengeance for the dead. 

The following picture of a West Virginia twilight will show the 
author's skill in making local scenes live for the reader: "There is a 
long twilight in these hills. The sun departs, but the day remains. A 
sort of weird, elfin day, that dawns at sunset, and envelops and possesses 
the world. The land is full of light, but it is the light of no heavenly 
sun. It is a light equal everywhere, as though the earth strove to 
illumine itself, and succeeded with that labor. 

' ' The stars are not yet out. Now and then a pale moon rides in the 
sky, but it has no power, and the light is not from it. The wind is 
usually gone; the air is soft and the fragrance of the fields fills it like 
a perfume. The noises of the day and of the creatures that go about 
by day cease, and the noises of the night and the creatures that haunt 
the night begin. The bat swoops and circles in the maddest action, but 
without a sound. The eye sees him, but the ear hears nothing. The 
whippoorwill begins his plaintive cry, and one hears, but does not see. 

"It is a world that we do not understand, for we are creatures of 
the sun, and we are fearful lest we come upon things at work here, 
of which we have no experience, and that may be able to justify them- 
selves against our reason. And so a man falls into silence when he 
travels in the tAvilight, and he looks and listens with his senses out on 
guard. ' ' 

Other books by Mr. Post are "The Nameless Thing" (1912), "The 
Mysteiy of Blue Villa" (1919), and "The Sleuth of St. James Square" 
(1920). Although the scenes of these stories are, for the most part, 
far removed from the hills of West Virginia, local characters often 
appear, for the author continually makes use of material from his native 
state. 

Margaret Prescott Montague, of White Sulphur Springs, has made 
much use of the local material of her native mountains. "The Poet, 
Miss Kate and I" (1905) is written in journal form — always a favorite 
form with West Virginia writers. And perhaps it is an indication of 
the changed temper of the times that a New England man is now the 
hero of the story ! The heroine is a West Virginia girl of delightful per- 
sonality. The pleasing love story, however, is at times somewhat ob- 
scured by descriptions of local scenery and anecdotes of queer char- 
acters among the mountain people. 

"The Sowing of Alderson Cree" (1907) is another story of the 
mountains, dealing excliTsively with mountain people. Alderson Cree 
is shot by a "saw-mill hand" and, dying, makes his twelve-year-old son 
promise to kill the murderer. The influence of this promise upon the 
boy and upon other characters of the story, makes a compelling char- 
acter study which is Avorked out to a natural conclusion. "In Calvert's 
Valley" (1909) is a similar literary development of a real story of 
mountaineer life. Both these books show a great advance beyond her 
earlier work, especially in plot construction. 

"Linda" (1912) also shows rapidly developing power. Linda Still- 
water, a mountain girl, with a personality of spirit and fire and almost 
elemental simplicity, is contrasted with the conventional society people 
of the Back Bay district in Boston. Rugged mountain scenes are also 
contrasted with city scenes, and the delightful Linda serves to interpret 
them both to the reader with her simple-hearted freshness of view. In 
fact the whole book has about it the freshness of a spring morning in 
the Alleghenies. 



A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 17 

Later stories by Miss Montague which tell of the blind and deaf 
children in the Romney institution, have been published in book form 
as, "Closed Doors" (1915), and "Home to Him's Muvver" (1916). 
These have had a wide appeal because of their sympathetic understand- 
ing of the blind and deaf children and of their problems. 

With the coming of the World War, Miss Montague became intensely 
interested in the underlying issues and most of her recent work deals 
more or less directly with these. She is particularly concerned with 
the establishment of a better order after the war — an entente of good 
feeling between England and America and a league of nations or other 
agency which will make peace permanent throughout the world. These 
ideas are expressed in "Of Water and the Spirit" (1916), "The Great 
Expectancy" (1918), "England to America" (1920), and "Uncle Sam 
of Freedom Ridge" (1920). Other books by Miss Montague are, "The 
Gift" (1919), and "Twenty Minutes of Reality" (1917). A remark- 
able fact about Miss Montague's work has been her development in 
power and depth of understanding as well as in skill in construction 
and in literary style. Each new story has been consistently better than 
the last, until today she is regarded by many critics as one of the fore- 
most American writers. 

Dr. Waitman Barbe's book of short stories, "In the Virginias" 
(1896), is also full of local color. The stories are brief and poetic in 
spirit, at times almost allegorical. The author shows his wide knowledge 
of West Virginia by stories of the extreme eastern counties, the interior 
mountain counties, the Ohio River valley, the hills along the Monon- 
gahela, and Blennerhassett 's Island. A broad human interest is shown 
in the variety of characters, including little mountain children, a 
preacher violinist, timber dealers, oil speculators, typical eastern Vir- 
ginians, and struggling young artists and lawyers. 

Granville Davisson Hall, in "The Daughter of the Elm" (1899) 
writes of life on the West Fork of the Monongahela. The story is 
founded on facts and tells of the crimes of a band of horse-thieves and 
robbers, committed just prior to the Civil war. Many of the incidents 
of the love story take place under an immense elm tree, known through 
all the countryside as the ' ' Big Elm. ' ' Mr. Hall has also written ' ' Old 
Gold" (1907), a book of sketches, and two books of history, "The 
Rending of Virginia" (1902), and "The Two Virginias" (1915). Oren 
F. Morton of Kingwood has written two romantic tales of life in 
northern West Virginia, "Winning or Losing?" (1901), and "The 
Land of the Laurel: A Story of the Alleghenies" (1903). The scenes 
of both stories are in the mountain country near Kingwood, varying to 
Bruceton, Morgantown, etc. Duncan McRa of Charleston is the author 
of a naive chronicle of "A Quaint Family of Three" (1902), a Penn- 
sylvania Dutch family who were friends and neighbors of the author 
on Booth's Creek, a tributary of the Monongahela. The stories are very 
like those of personal eccentricities which were popular at log-cabin 
firesides. Hu Maxwell of Tucker county has published a similar group 
of stories called, "Jonathan Fish and His Neighbors" (1900). 

Albert Benjamin Cunningham is the author of two excellent realistic 
studies of life on Elk river. "The Manse at Barren Rocks" (1918) 
and "Singing Mountains" (1919). They tell the story of a Baptist 
minister's family and are probably autobiographic, since the author's 
father and mother were both ministers in the Baptist church. Although 
the stories are slight in plot their accurate descriptions of local scenes, 
their well-told bits of West Virginia folk-lore, and their general truth 
to life and feeling in the state, render them of very great interest to 



18 A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

local readers especially. Mr. Cunningham is also the author of "The 
Chronicle of an Old Town" (1919). 

"The Cross Roads Meetin' House," a play of country community 
life in the state, dealing with the problems of the country church, was 
written by Mary Meek Atkeson of Buffalo and Morgantown. The local 
dialect of the Great Kanawha valley is used throughout. It was first 
published in 1918 by the Ohio State College of Agriculture, but a re- 
vised edition was put out in 1920 by the Interchurch World Movement. 
This writer has also published ' ' A Study of the Local Literature of the 
Upper Ohio Valley, 1820-1840" (3921), including the early literature 
of western Virginia. 

Although this period is more concerned with modern phases of life 
in the state than with its history, there have appeared a number of 
historical or semi-historical books. "Malinda" (1907), by William W. 
Wertz of Charleston, is a novel of life in the frontier settlements on 
the Elk and Great Kanawha rivers. Daniel Boone and Anne Bailey 
appear as heroic figures, and it shows clearly the influence of Chateavi- 
briand and other sentimental writers on Indian life. Warren Wood of 
Parkersburg is the author of "The Tragedy of the Deserted Isle" 
(1909), a readable account of the old days on Blennerhassett 's Island, 
and "When Virginia was Rent in Twain" (1913), a historical novel of 
the stirring Civil war days in the state. A collection of Indian tales, 
similar in purpose to the earlier collections of Doddridge and Withers 
is L. V. McWhorter's "The Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia 
from 1768 to 1795" (1915). It includes many incidents of border 
warfare as handed down by oral tradition, as well as a complete 
biography of Jesse Hughes, one of the most noted scouts and Indian 
haters of the frontier. "Moccasin Tracks and Other Imprints" (1915), 
by W. C Doddrill of Webster Springs, is also a collection of local 
traditions concerning the Indian wars, place names and early settlers 
of Webster country. 

Many of the local tales revert to the days "befo' de wa'." Among 
these are "Down South in Dixie," by Callie Bruce Oldham of Mounds- 
ville, and "A Little Court of Yesterday" (1900), by Minnie Ried 
French of Bluefield. 

Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller of Alderson published her first stoiy, 
"The Bride of the Tomb," in 1881. Her emotional novels, about 
seventy-five in all, were for many years popular as serials in the current 
story papers and are still read in book form. Frank Lee Benedict, for 
several years a resident of St. Albans, is the author of many similar 
novels. William Perry Brown of Glenville has written many books for 
boys including "A Sea Island Romance" (1888), "Ralph Granger's 
Fortunes" (1902), etc. Since the World war he has published a new 
series, "Our Sammies in the Trenches" (1918), "Our Jackies with the 
Fleet" (1918),. and "Our Pilots in the Air" (1918). 

Henry Sydnor Harrison, for several years a resident of Charleston, 
is a prominent writer of novels, but has used little local material in 
his work. "Queed" (1911), with its odd story of "the little doctor 
with big spectacles," and its message of personal development, at once 
caught the public fancy and brought the writer into prominence. Mr. 
Harrison's later book, "V. V.'s Eyes" (1913), and "Angela's Business" 
(1915), are equally strong stories dealing vigorously with social prob- 
lems. A recent volume, "When I Come Back" (1919), tells the story 
of a private soldier in the World war. 

Other writers, now resident in the state, but not, so far as the writer 
knows, using local material are Fanny Kemble Johnson (Mrs. Vincent 



A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 1.9 

Costello) of Charleston, author of "The Beloved Son" (1916), and 
Herbert Quick of Berkeley Springs, author of many books dealing with 
rural social problems, among them "The Brown Moixse" (1915), and 
"The Fairview Idea" (1919). Frank R. Stockton lived for three years 
(1899-1902) near Charles Town, and there continued his literary work. 
The setting for "John Gayther's Garden" (1900), is a description of 
the garden at "Claymont," his AVest Virginia home. The scene of 
"The Captain's Toll-Gate" (1903) is the beautiful turnpike between 
Charles Town and Harper's Ferry. "Kate Bonnet" (1903) was also 
written in the state, but makes no use of local material. 

Katherine Pearson "Woods, once a resident of Wheeling, is the. 
author of several novels, "Metzerott, Shoemaker" (1889), "A Web of 
Gold" (1890), etc., none of them using local material. Philander Chase 
Johnson, author of "Senator Sorghum's Primer of Politics" (1906) 
and several other volumes of prose and verse is also a native of 
Wheeling. 

During the agitation of the Free Silver qviestion William Hope 
Harvey, a native of Putnam county, began writing the "Coin" series 
of books on finance. "Coin's Financial School" (1894) had an im- 
mense popularity, and was followed immediately by "Coin's Financial 
School Up-to-Date," "A Tale of Two Nations," and several others. 
All are written in popular form, but the ' ' Tale of Two Nations ' ' is the 
only one involving a love story. 

Other residents of the state who have written stories published in 
book form are : 

Martin Luther Fearnow, of Berkeley County, "The Modern Crusade" (1899). 

Bernice MeCally Pollock, of Morgantown, "Hortense" (1902). 

Will C. Whisner, of Berkeley County, "Mark Ellis, or Unsolved Problems" 
(1899). 

Virginia Lucas, of Charles Town, "The Captain" (1912). 

James Paul Kelly, of Charleston, ' ' The Prince of Izon. ' ' 

Lena Leota Johnston, of Monroe County, ' ' Nonie : A Novel. ' ' 

Anna Pierpont Siviter, of Fairmont, "Nehe, A Tale of the Time of Artax- 
erxes" (1901). 

McHenry Jones, of Institute, "Hearts of Gold" (1896). 

Henrietta E. Slaughter, of Charleston, "Passion Past" (1888). 

Earle Kunst, of Weston, "Justine" (1905). 

Hu Maxwell, of Tucker County, "Evans and Sontag" (1891). 

And just as lovers sing to me here 

When the shade of the hills reach out 
Across the waters' crystal bed 

And the harvest moon is near, 
E 'en so beneath the southland shades, 

When the mocking biri sings low 
And the breeze comes up from the restless sea, 

They'll sing to me there I know. 
When the air is rich with the odor of May, 

Swept in from the distant pines. 
They'll sing to me then and vow their love 

Is measured by no confines. 
But back I'll come to my mountain home 

To tell the woodland sprites 
How maidens' sighs and thrushes' songs 

Fill all the southern nights. 
Like one who leaves his childhood home 

That's set among the hills, 
And oft returns from broader fields 

To feel its mystic thrills. 
So I shall come from the ocean's sweep 

To hear the same old song, 
And leap the rocks and kiss the boughs 

That have waved for me so long. 



20 A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

Then away to my task for the sons of men, 

Away through city and plain; 
The voices of comrades bid me stay, 

But all their tempting is vain, 
Hey-ho, to the wider world I run, 

Hey-ho, to the land of the sun." ' 

The lesser poets of the state are very numerous and their verses are 
so like in subject and spirit that it is difficult to do more than to 
catalogue the writers and their works. Charles Russell Christian of 
Logan county, in 1885 published "The Mountain Bard" in an "honest 
endeavor to sow the seeds of literature in this hitherto barren land." 
Hu Maxwell, of Tucker county, appeared before the public with a 
volume of verse, "Idyls of the Golden Shore," in 1887. The verses 
were written during the writer's travels in California, "frequently in 
the noise and confusion of a camp full of frontiersmen and Indians 
•with nothing to do but sing and talk." He writes modestly of his 
work, "The critics were very hostile, and I am now satisfied that they 
were none too hostile * * * i withdrew it from circulation as soon 
as I could, and I do not know of a dozen copies in existence now. ' ' 

Miss Emma Withers of Glenville, a granddaughter of Alexander 
Scott Withers, published a book of verse, "Wildwood Chimes," in 1891, 
containing many graceful poems. In 1899 John J. Cornwell, of Romney, 
published a collection of the poems of his brother, Marshall S. Corn- 
well, under the title "Wheat and Chaff." Frances Moore Bland, of 
Weston, published "Twilight Reveries" (1900), of which the title is 
well suited to the quiet verses. Edward B. Kenna, of Charleston, ap- 
peared with a book of lyrical poems of a flowing rhythm, "Lyrics of 
the Hills" (1902). Since his death all his verses have been collected 
in a larger volume, "Songs of the Open Air and Other Poems" (1912). 
Ella Maxwell Haddox, for several years connected with the Charleston 
Gazette, in which many of her poems were printed, has a small volume 
of verses showing careful workmanship, "Poems of Sentiment" (1912). 
Norah Lee Haymond, of Clarksburg, published "Verse and Worse" 
in 1918. Since that time she has won recognition as a writer of songs 
and dialogue for burlesques and revues. 

Other West Virginians writing verse in this period are : 

"The Soul in Silhouette" (1904), Edward Earle Purinton. 
"Voices from the Valley" (1918), Warren Wood. 
"Brier Blossoms" (1899), Howard Llewellyn Swisher. 

"Gettysburg, A Battle Ode Descriptive of the Third Day," Robert William 
Douthat, a captain in Pickett's brigade. 

"Songs of the Age" (1891), Dudley Hughes Davis. 
"The Kingdom Gained" (1896), Dudley Hughes Davis. 
"Life and Song" (1900), Anna R. Henderson. 
"Wayside Thoughts" (1903), Patrick Kenny. 

Verse 

This period, so productive of fiction of all kinds has been scarcely 
less productive of verse. The hills and mountains had always been 
appreciated by local writers, but now there was a new feeling of pro- 
prietorship toward these natural beauties. The mountains were not only 
beautiful mountains — they were a part of the estate of the local singer, 
and as such to be celebrated and warmly defended against any other 
mountains whatsoever. There are innumerable local poets throughout 
the state. Almost every county has its group of singers and there is 
scarce a mountain or river, or creek or waterfall that has not been 



A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 21 

the subject of some kind of verse. By far the greater part of this local 
verse lies buried in the files of county newspapers, but an occasional 
thin volume is issued from local printshops. 

There are, however, a few poets who have won real distinction. One 
of the first to be given general recognition Avas Danske Dandridge of 
Shepherdstown. She made her first appearance before the public with 
the dainty volume, "Joy and Other Poems" (1888), and was well re- 
ceived by the critics. Some of her poems have the freshness and spon- 
taneity of the old English ballads. Two or three of her poems are 
usually included in collections of the best Southern poetry. Daniel 
Bedinger Lucas, also a state poet, wrot-e a tribute to her as the singer 
of the "golden note." 

'Trom your sweet lyre there seemed to float, 
As from the Muses' chorded shell, 
The sounds they love so well — 
The echoes of that golden note." 

Another poet of prominence is Dr. Waitman Barbe, who first called 
attention to his talent by "The Song of the Century," an occasional 
poem written in 1885, and later established his reputation by the sub- 
stantial volume of verse, "Ashes and Incense" (1891). His work has 
been much praised by the critics in both England and America for its 
beauty and genuine feeling and classic finish. For many years Dr. 
Barbe has devoted his entire time to editorial and educational work 
and has produced little poetry. In 1919, however, he published in pam- 
phlet form "Stars of Gold," in commemoration of the "West Virginia 
University men who gave their lives in the World war. Dr. Barbe has, 
more nearly than anyone else, expressed the spirit of the state in verse. 
The poem quoted is chosen for its local interest. 

Song of the Monongahela • 

Hey -ho! I leave my haunts in the woods, 

I leave the land of snow; 
Hey -ho! I leave my mountain friends 

And away to the south I go; 
Away to run through the cotton-fields. 

Away to swell the orange yields, 
Away to be kissed by the sun and breeze, 

Away to be mixed with the shoreless seas, 
Hey-ho! to the wider world I run, 

Hey -ho ! to the land o ' the sun. 
I'll fill the Beautiful Elver's heart 

With joy as free as an elf; 
I '11 e 'en become a very part 

Of the rather of Waters himself. 
With wider purpose, larger sweep, 

My steadfast course I'U run, 
Like one whose aims in life reach out 

Till all his work is done. 
And he at last merged in the sea 

Whose farther shore no man 
Has ever glimpsed with earth-bound eyes 

Since first the world began. 
The mighty, pulsing trade I'll serve 

And yield to man's behest; 
His burdens bear from land to sea 

Adown the wondrous west. 

"Potpourri," Franklin P. Jepson. 

"The Sculptor and Other Poems" (1903), Anna Pierpont Siviter. 

"Songs of Hope" (1906), Anna Pierpont Siviter. 

"Eustic Ehymes" (1904), Winfield Scott Garner. 



22 A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF AVEST VIRGINIA 

•■'Eandom Rhymes" (1904), Robert L. Pemberton. 

' ' Songs in a Merry Mood, ' ' Robert L. Pemberton. 

"Musings of a Quiet Hour" (1907), John S. Hall. 

"Lyrics of the Hills" (1909), Herbert P. McGinnis. 

"Chips and Whetstones" (1908), George W. Atkinson. 

"Wild Flowers" (1898), Virginia Lucas. 

"Mountain State Gleanings" (1911), Ignatius Bremian. 

"Gems for the Ladies," Enomet Stockton Dilworth. 

"Contest of the Frogs" (1888), Daniel Boardnian Purinton. 

"The Visions of a Seer" (1894), Noah Coleman. 

"A City's Chaplet" (1899), Alice Piersol Cain. 

"West Virginia Lyrics" (1902), John G. Gittings. 

"Works of David E. Hill in Song, Poetry and Prose" (1905), David E. Hill. 

"The Children of Bethlehem," etc., Ida L. Reed. 

Conclusion . 

Among so many and so varied writers of prose and verse it is diffi- 
cult to form any very definite conclusions. Yet there are a few qualities 
in all this writing which seem to belong particularly to the state. 

One thing which characterizes practically all the writers is an in- 
tense love for West Virginia. It is true that writers elsewhere have 
loved other states, and that very deeply and intensely, and have loved 
to sing their praises, but anything like the complete unanimity of en- 
thusiasm of almost every writer who has lived within our borders is 
unknown, so far as the writer has discovered, in any other locality. 
The writers from the highest to the lowest seem to speak from a common 
impulse to tell the world at large that life in West Vii'ginia is a beautiful 
and joyous thing. The average resident of the state seems to feel if 
his life were set down in a book with the hills as a background it must 
needs be a great masterpiece. 

This attitude toward life leads to one of the chief faults of the 
West Virginia stories — a general looseness of construction or continual 
digressions from the story proper. It often seems that the writer is 
loath to change even the details of life in the state, though he knows 
that the literary form of the story would be improved thereby, and he 
continually pauses in the telling of his tale to recount some local anec- 
dote or some local tradition, or to describe at length the hiUs and 
mountains about him. If this were true merely of the lesser writers 
it would have little significance, but even the more skillful seem liable 
to the same fault, when dealing with local material. Melville Davisson 
Post, for instance, who has written so many weU-knit short stories, be- 
comes digressive in "Dwellers in the Hills." Margaret Prescott Mon- 
tague, in her first book, "The Poet, Miss Kate and I," and to some 
extent in her other mountain stories shows the same tendency, as does 
also A. B. Cunningham in "The Manse at Barren Rocks" and "Singing 
Mountains." The lesser writers show this tendency very much more 
clearly. One cannot avoid the conclusion that literary form has often 
been sacrificed to a love of local scenes and traditions and of life in 
West Virginia asi it is lived from day to day. 

The poets are, if possible, even more devoted to the natural beauties 
of the state. Every state poet vies with every other in singing the 
praises of the hiUs. Even before one opens a book of West Virginia 
poems, one can be fairly certain of the "Table of Contents." It will 

run somewhat as follows: "The Beautiful River," space to be 

filled by Ohio, Kanawha, Greenbrier, Monongahela, etc., according to 
locality of the writer. "The Evening Hills." 

" Rocks," space to be filled according to locality. 

"The Hills in Spring." 



A STUDY OF THE LITEEATURE OP WEST VIRGINIA 23 

"To an Indian Arrow-Head." 

"The Red Bird." 

"My "West Virginia Home," etc., etc. 

The poets seem, to write solely from an impulse to delineate and 
celebrate the scenes they love, and they feel certain if they can get 
those beauties upon the page they will have great poetry. Dr. Waitman 
Barbe once remarked that wherever he went in the state someone was 
always pointing out some local scene and saying, "Now, won't you make 
a poem out of that ! ' ' and he could never make the speaker understand 
that it takes much more than beautiful scenery to make a real poem. 
And yet Dr. Barbe 's own work shows him truly West Virginian in his 
love of the hills and rivers, though he has in addition a depth of feeling 
and understanding of life which lifts his work to general importance. 

Though the local verses are somewhat related in spirit to the work 
of Wordsworth, Bryant, or of Lanier, there is little close resemblance 
wliich would suggest direct imitation, except in Dr. Doddridge's "Elegy 
on His Family Vault," imitating Gray's "Elegy," some of the poems 
of Thomas J. Lees, and a few others. Of course conventional figures 
of speech, worn-out poetic phrases, unmeaning lines, faulty rhymes, 
and all such faults of the untrained writer, are common enough in all 
the local poets, but these do not indicate direct imitation. This lack 
of models seems worth mentioning because in the local verse-writing of 
Ohio, of which the writer has also made a study, the use of classic 
models is quite the usual thing. This may be explained partly by the 
fact that many Ohio poets were trained in New England colleges where 
the writing of verse was taken seriously, and models held up for imita- 
tion. Few of the West Virginia verse writers have been college trained 
and they do not generally regard verse-making as an art to be studied 
seriously. 

West Virginia poets are a happy folk. Whatever their shortcomings 
in technique they are rich in the belief that life is a good and gracious 
thing, they take an almost pagan joy in the manifestations of nature 
about them, and they seem inclined to believe that heaven can be but 
a West Vii'ginia glorified. They are simple-hearted mystics who believe 
devoutly in the potency of beauty in human life. They seldom sermon- 
ize and almost never weep. When a moral is pointed at all in a poem 
it is usually tacked on at the end as by an afterthought, or as a con- 
cession to some popular notion. This is in strong contrast to the de- 
scendants of the Pilgrims on the Ohio side of the river, who seem to 
think that the chief end of poets is to preach sermons. There "Lines 

on a Tomb," "Lines on the Death of , " etc., are most common, 

though, except for a few New Englanders along the river, West Vir- 
ginia writers generally avoid such lachrymose subjects. 

A similar attitude is shown toward the Indian mounds — ^those 
fascinating, mysterious relics of a vanished race. Ohio verse so abounds 
in "Lines to an Indian Mound," always for a moral purpose, that one 
begins to suspect that the subject is so frequently chosen, not because 
of the beauty of the mounds or even of their mystery, but rather be- 
cause the moral lesson is so beautifully evident — "as this race has van- 
ished, so will yours also." Lines to mounds are comparatively rare in 
West Virginia, though there are many relics of the mound-builders in 
the state and the huge mound at Moundsville is particularly impressive. 
The state poets usually picture the Indians as living rather than dead. 
When musing on some Indian arrow-head they try to picture the joy 
of Indian life as a hunter among the hills— with perhaps a beautiful 



24 A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

Indian maiden waiting at the try sting place. One obscure newspaper 
poet even insists that the huge mound at Moundsville was not a tomb, 
as generally believed, but a temple of worship from which to hymn 
the praises of the hills! And since those vanished races were West 
Virginians, too, in a way, and perhaps like those living now, caught by 
the potent spell of the hills, it is quite possible that he may have the 
true interpretation. 

These distinctive qualities of our local writing seem to indicate a 
predominant Celtic element in the people of the state. As has been 
pointed out before the early settlers had a strong admixture of Welsh, 
Irish, Scotch-Irish, and French blood and their descendants have main- 
tained their racial characteristics. This tendency of the race, as well 
as the beauty of environment, may explain the general joyousness and 
the delight in natural beauty in a country in which conditions of life 
are often particularly hard because of the meager areas for cultivation 
and the rigorous climate. Their love of the homeland often seems ab- 
surd or pathetic to the plain-dwellers of the West, but it is entirely 
sincere. The poignant homesickness of the native of the hills who is 
foi'ced by circumstances to live on the plains or in the cities is men- 
tioned by very many of the local writers, and "The West Virginia Hills" 
is the favorite song at all state gatherings. 

However amusing this may be to outsiders it is at least a pleasant 
view of life and one conducive to literature. We have seen how it has 
already inspired a considerable body of literature that in many respects 
is both creditable and distinctive, and has given a few writers a high 
rank among the writers of the nation. The possibilities for literature in 
the state are infinite because of the great variety of life and people 
among the hills and mountains. It is to be hoped that the local writers 
will continue to present the different phases of our life to the reading 
public until the world in general comes to know the ever-changing 
charm and fascination of West Virginia as the hill-dwellers know it and 
love it. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



011 811 437 1 



